For All the Stars in the Sky
by PlotbunnyChariot
Summary: This is a Zutara piece taking place after the end of the series; it's basically my version of the introduction of the two as a couple. I don't own anything, sadly. Enjoy!


For All the Stars in the Sky

Team Avatar sat around the campfire, laughing and sharing cups of Zuko's own brewed tea. After all the chaos that had occurred since Aang's defeat of the Fire Lord, the group had finally managed to glean some time for themselves to spend together. They had instantly retreated, on Appa's back, to a quiet stretch of forest where they could be at peace, and camp had been set up just like old times.

Aang was currently heading up the conversation, animatedly telling the goofy stories that came with being the Avatar, and Sokka was constantly barging in to add his own accounts of them. Toph laughed along and included her own scathingly sarcastic remarks while playing with the space rock Sokka had given her long ago. Everything seemed like it had all been far in the past, and reality was still too surreal for Katara to grasp. She sat quietly, laughing at the jokes and sipping the sweet hot tea, but something felt amiss, and she felt like a hole was in her heart.

What was wrong with her? Ever since the Final Battle, she'd been having strange dreams that started with Zuko saving her from Azula's lightning and twisted into nightmares. Azula and her father had been safely put away in separate jails, the kingdoms were finally coming together again, and peace was being gradually restored to the world. Aang was thriving despite occasional relapses into sorrow at the burden on his shoulders, which was to be expected. Sokka and Suki were having the time of their lives. Even cynical Toph seemed to be faring quite well. But Katara herself was having difficulty.

She could handle the dreams about Hama, or even occasional thoughts of Azula's murderous laugh, but something was terribly off, and her new nightmares were twisting themselves into her heart and refusing to let their choking hold release her. They would always start with Zuko saving her, and she would always scream his name, trying to warn him of the danger. He, of course, wouldn't listen.

But unlike real life, in her dreams she couldn't save him. She'd defeat Azula and run to his side, but his dry lips would try to speak to her and fail, and his words would slip into fading air. He would always die by her side, no matter how much she tried to heal and save him. His eyes would look at hers the way they had that day, a way that she couldn't place or mark. She'd even tried running for Aang in her dream, but that had only made things worse. His face would always deform into Azula's or Ozai's, and the dream would turn so dark her body would wake her up to prevent her from experiencing that blackness, that despair. She'd always wake up silently crying, her chest heaving and her face soaking wet with infinite tears.

Her thoughts were drawn back to real life just as her eyes were sucked out of watching the tea swirl in her cup. "Katara? Are you okay?"

Her head jerked up, eyes wild with confusion, to Aang's concerned voice. "What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine," she quickly replied, trying to keep in the conversation for the next few minutes so she wouldn't look suspicious. It was harder than she had thought. Finally she was able to drown her sights in her tea again, and the conversation around her faded out as her existence built a barricade around her. Even surrounded by her closest friends, she felt entirely alone.

The night wore on, and as conversation topics flowed in and out, she decided to take a walk to clear her head. Her friends didn't object; while they acknowledged her mention of it, they were too busy arguing over whether cactus juice should be legal or not to pay her much heed. Somehow, that just made her feel worse.

So, when she was standing on the edge of a moonlit lake, trying desperately to breathe in the scent of the water to calm herself, she was surprised to hear softened footfalls behind her. She spun around to see none other than Zuko, and for a second she flinched at the sight of his face. It wasn't his scar that got her; it was the fact that he had haunted her dreams for the past two weeks without any apparent reason, and that he had always died in her arms. She had felt his death rattle, and she shivered at the sight of seeing him alive, alone with her. For some reason she expected him to collapse at her feet, same look in his eyes and same inaudible words dying on his lips.

Come to think of it, that same look was in his eyes now. She shivered, but for a second her heart felt a rare flash of peace.

"Zuko! What are you doing here?" She felt her body bracing for a fight, and she tried to relax her muscles. _Just because he died in my dream doesn't mean he will here. It doesn't mean Azula or someone will pop out and try to kill us. It doesn't mean anything is going to happen. He's going to think I'm angry at him or am still suspicious of him or something. Come on, Katara, calm down already!_

He cocked his head gently, his thick hair shifting about his eyes. "I thought you might want some company," he replied, almost shrugging. When she didn't reply for a second, he added, "If you want me to leave..."

"No! No, it's fine," she amended hastily, wondering at the words that came out of her mouth. "I'm sorry, I just..." She tried to control her breathing, tried to focus on saying something intelligent. Apparently that didn't work, judging from the look on Zuko's face, as she didn't hear what else came out of her mouth.

"Katara..." Zuko took a step forward, and she instantly backed up until she was ankle-deep in the water. The shock on his face and in those eyes of his made her freeze.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Zuko," she tried to amend. "I just...I can't..." The confused look on his face kept her going. "I'm so sorry. I just can't have you around me right now."

"Oh. Okay."

She heard the hurt in his voice, and it was like a chunk of ice had scraped her across the face. "No, not like that! I mean, I..." Suddenly she couldn't stop herself. Words tumbled out with tears, the water around her ankles flowed back and forth faster, and she could feel her body trembling violently. She couldn't hold her dreams in anymore, and she couldn't hold in all the pain that had invaded her heart for the past couple of weeks. Not anymore.

She didn't know where she was anymore; reality was submerged again, though she had never fully come back to it, and she was blind in the darkness. She saw her reflection like it was in a mirror and reached for it, falling through a blackened floor and missing it by what seemed like both inches and miles at the same time. She felt like she was falling through water, watching the light at the surface grow dimmer and dimmer as she drowned, alone.

She didn't know where she was-didn't come back to the reality of non-isolated existence-until she finally registered Zuko's strong arms wrapping around her in a steady embrace, keeping her on her feet and preventing her from truly falling. She felt the tears slowly dissipate and the violent sobs subdue themselves into heavy breathing. When her blurry eyes finally opened, she realized that the sky seemed lighter by a degree, though the stars were still twinkling mischievously up in the heights. How long had she stood here, sobbing her heart away into ash? How long had Zuko stayed by her side, enveloping her with his warmth and fiery strength? She was still standing ankle-deep in water, but the water wasn't very cold; Zuko must have heated it for her so she didn't freeze when she was lost to herself.

Slowly, regrettably, she pulled away from his warmth. Her eyes, wide and wondering, looked into his. She had expected him to look away, or to deny having helped her in some show of masculinity. She had thought he might look incredibly awkward; even though they had grown close enough in the group, he had been her enemy once, and either way this was far too personal for a guy like him. What she saw amazed her.

His look was that of his in her dreams, the one he had given her after that fateful Agni Kai on the day of the Final Battle.

"What does that mean?" she asked, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

"What do you mean?" he replied, his voice quiet but reassuring, his eyes searching hers for the meaning.

"Your look...your eyes. I've seen it in my dreams. At the Agni Kai. What does it mean?"

She watched as understanding sparkled in his fiery eyes like lightning-but not like Azula's lightning. This lightning was beautiful to watch.

He shook his head, eyes gently laughing. When he glanced back up, those orange depths almost seemed shy. She had never thought she'd see that. "First," he asked, "is that rumor going around true? Have you and Aang really...broken up?"

She swallowed and looked down at the ground. "Yes," she replied quietly, strangely not as broken up over it as she thought she'd be. "He wasn't the right guy after all, which was surprising," she added, looking back up at the fire-bender in front of her. "We both came to the same conclusion. We're sad it happened, but we're still friends. We didn't want to break it to you guys yet; we wanted to find the right time for it."

Zuko nodded, not speaking a word for a few moments. Then he cleared his throat. "I suppose I owe it to you, then, to tell you," he replied, not quite looking her in the eyes. "I... During the Agni Kai, I saw Azula aiming for you, and I ran to block her."

Katara nodded, part of her wondering why he needed to restate what they already both knew and part of her also knowing that sometimes, things just needed to be resaid.

"When I did that, I wanted to save you. But that wasn't quite all of it." He glanced down at his feet for a split second before seeming to decide to look her straight on, no matter what. "I...Katara, I don't know how to explain this. And I'm worried it will be too soon, especially after you and Aang and what happened between me and Mai...but I love you, a lot. I want to be with you, but only if you do, too. When my sister aimed for you, I knew I'd rather die a thousand times than let her hurt you. I didn't fully realize it at the time, but that's mostly because I love you. And I hope you love me, too."

He had expected her to gasp in shock and run away, or freeze him in a ball of ice on the spot. She'd done both before. He had thought she'd start screeching at the insanity of the thought, or running back to Aang, even if that did seem farfetched. He had almost expected her to question him about Mai, but to be honest, everyone knew by now that the two had broken up again, deciding to be friends instead. He hadn't really known what to expect of the pure, sweet, beautiful water-bender he had fallen in love with.

So when Katara's eyes reflected his love back and she wrapped him in a hug, he wasn't sure what to do for a second.

"You held me up when I could not," she whispered into his ear. "You always have. Thank you, Zuko."

He felt his own eyes sting as he hugged her back, the fire within him growing stronger from the light she lent to it. Through the tears she had shed, she had finally managed to find herself again-with Zuko.

Even as they walked back to the group, talking quietly to each other with only the stars to hear, she knew that her nightmares would fade away. They had only been there to tell her what she needed, what she could not walk away from lest she suffer the death of her heart. She knew where her heart truly belonged now, and she wouldn't trade it for all the stars in the sky. Neither would he.

Fine!

Zutara Fanfic 3 3 3


End file.
